Our on-ground Conservation Team consists of three teams – one for each of our current zones. One team (two staff) for each zone – Torquay - Anglesea; Aireys Inlet - Lorne and Separation Creek – Apollo Bay. There is a lot of ground to cover for two people, with each area getting an annual sweep for woody weeds, plus attention is given to individual areas as required, time and resources permitting.
We often have tasks that would be too onerous for our small teams, so we all get together to work on specific projects together!
We had a team day hand weeding Marram grass on the dune at Kennett River, a known breeding area for Hooded Plovers, which have made nests nearby but not where the Marram grass is prolific. The long term goal now that the Marram grass has been removed is for natural recruitment of indigenous grasses, such as Spinifex sericeus (hairy spinifex) and Carex pumila (strand sedge).
As has been previously noted, Ammophila sp. (Marram grasses) trap sand and cause dunes to become steep and prone to vertical erosion. The steep dune face creates an area unsuitable for the hoodies to nest as their chicks are unable to traverse the steep face to forage and seek shelter from predators. The dune will take time to recover and naturally regenerate, though there is a healthy population of both Spinifex sericeus and Carex pumila nearby, enabling natural recruitment to occur.
